I personally have found Bulliet Bourbon Frontier Whiskey to be great right before bed. I think of it as a reward for making it through another day alive!

This is the crazy part. I've been doing this for almost a year now and I have not had ONE SINGLE COLD. I use to deal with 3-4 colds a year so I'm of the opinion a tiny bit of this stuff a day is sort of killing off germs. Plus I sleep way better!

About a year ago I was searching for a sampler that had good interpolation. I like to sample one string sound and then play chords with it. I don't like to multisample! I was thinking of one of those Roland hardware samplers that came out right before computers took over. I can't remember the name but it basically stretched a sample across the keyboard. After I looked at those a bit closer they're basically door stops. Recently I stumbled across a vst sampler called Shortcircuit. They must not have made any money of it as it's available for free. I think this is one of the most musical samplers I've ever come across. I'm not sure what process they use but samples smoothly transition across the keyboard. Plus, they have some very nice modulation options including step sequencers for LFO's. The filters are great also.

Worth looking into but be aware some newer programs won't play it. I'm running it in XP on Ableton and it's very stable. You have to downsample to 16 bit before it will see your samples. Took me a few days to figure that part out!

I want to take the opportunity to thank all of you for your support with my latest release Formation. To all of you you who have been listening to my music since the 90's, I thought it was time to make my first demo tape available to you. Not many people have heard it. Of course, some of you discovered my music through FUTURE MUSIC in 1995 with the track Haight Pacifica. This is the demo tape I sent to Future music which eventually made it's way to Hypnos Recordings. Burning Igloo is a FREE thank you for such great support over the years. Please enter 0 on check out. Look forward to more music in 2013!

Hi Greg, funny you should mention this. I have thinking about putting it up with my other stuff. In fact, I recently digitally pulled it off the dat tape. I was holding back because a few songs sound a bit, well, amateur. However, it's a pretty fun listen and not many people have heard it. Should I put it up?

HI Darren. someone elese wrote me about this so I'll just post what I wrote back to him:

I had to do some serious thinking about my previous work and what I wanted to do next. First, I was at the point where it was becoming incredibly hard to write an entire album worth of music. After 3 or 4 songs I find myself wanting to stop. Even thinking about the process of making a physical release kept me from making music. This is why It would take 1 or 2 years for me to get enough stuff together to make an album.

Over the last 4 years, I have used a service called Tunecore which delivers my music to Itunes, Emusic, Amazon, etc. Because I get statistics on what people are downloading, I know that barely any albums are selling but individual tracks are doing very well. At the same time cds haven't been selling at all. I'm lucky to sell one every 3 or 4 months now. BUT, my music online is doing better than it ever did when sold as cds. In addition, much of my music has been floating around file sharing websites so it's almost easier to just download it for free than it is to purchase it.

So, all this together made me realize it was time to set my music free in a way where those who choose to buy an album or a song could, and those who casually come by for a listen can without paying. When I think about it, trying to monetize my music like a pop band makes no sense. The whole business aspect of my music was all wrong.

So here's the wild thing about all this. I have made more money with Formation than any other album entirely and it's been out for a few weeks AND it's free if you don't want to pay. People are putting their own value on the music. Because of this, I feel totally free now to make the music I want to make. I can do anything I want without the weight of "business" over me. It's liberating.

I do have a few listeners who really want cds. Actually your idea of a record sounds fantastic. I did a double take a few weeks ago at Urban Outfitters as they have a record isle in there with new albums! One of my ideas is to do 3 or 4 short albums and then try and get 100 or so listeners together to pick their favorite songs from digital releases and then pick what they want to do with them. So, if enough people wanted to take 8 songs and put them on a record, we could do this. 100 people at 10 bucks a head is almost enought to do this along with hiring a graphic designer for some extra special artwork. I would basically help the process along with artwork and title etc.

So, I'm not saying physical product is out but I'm not going to follow the standard process I've been following.

Cheers,Saul

And, thank you to everyone who has been supporting my music and this latest release. More to come very soon.

I am pleased to announce FORMATION, my first in a series of smaller track count releases. FORMATION is 4 signature electronic tracks which carry on the vibe of Sleek Nucleus with an infusion of classic sonic textures from earlier albums like Outfolding or Zo Pilots.

I actually manage my digital distribution myself. So, I will probably see a few coins come my way from your purchase so thank you. I've noticed that online sales have significantly dropped in the last year. I think more people are just streaming through Pandora and downloading less.

I'm actually in the process of removing my music from online stores as it's costing too much to maintain. I pay about $50 per album per year and most bring in little more than this. It's just a bad deal unless you're selling a lot of music. As a replacement to this, I have started building a band camp site that I will focus all my efforts on. This will be where all my new music is released. Band camp has the ability to socially activate your music unlike any other site I have seen. In a way, you set it free and allow each album to spread to those who want it.

While on this subject, It's with great pleasure to announce that Zo Pilots is now on Band Camp with a very special surprise! Fissure Docks, An unreleased track originally intended to be on Zo Pilots, turns up on a DAT tape! I pulled this song at the last minute and replaced it with some live material. I always wanted to make it available and thought this would be a good time to this.

Personally, I like really simple softsynths with barely any hidden menus or items so i tend to gravitate towards things like the OP-X. I have Largo too which is pretty interesting. It's hard to pull a good sound out of it as it comes off bellish sounding to me.

Hi, I have been playing with the OP-X PRO-II and I'm really impressed with the quality of this soft synth. I can't say I've enjoyed "playing" any other soft synth. Reminds me of back in the days when you would just sit at a synth and play. The OP-X II has a bunch of added trimmer pots that do some really nice things. It's definitely a Van Halen sounding synth but if start from scratch you can build some very nice organic sounds and they're incredibly warm. One of it's cool features is that it runs through a set of variations per key depressed. Easier to see on the website but it gives it a really natural feel. When I play it I actually feel like I'm playing a hardware synth.

I'm on this guitar pedal binge. I came across this really nice build your own pedal site. The kits are complete and really simple with very little experience needed. I just finished this reverb and it sounds really great. Super old school spring quality. Very warm with a true spring sound.

Stillstream is a huge fan of Stokes' work and this is easily one of his best discs yet. Stokes is the master of smooth analog-synth grooves!

- Darrell Burgan / Stillstream.com

Saul Stokes makes Electronic Music that sounds like it is coming straight out of the wall outlet. Over the years he has become known for his concerts of sonic improvisation and albums of complex atmospheric energy. His work has always been, and continues to be, based on crafting original sonic elements and forms into beautiful realizations of texture and consonance. More recently Stokes has been embracing his internal contrasts. On Sleek Nucleus (54'42") he produces music that registers in both the body and in the mind. Sleek Nucleus is front-loaded with catchy, engaging tracks - but although this CD's songs may be easier to grasp, this accessibility in no way represents a scaling back of ambition. While overlapping rhythms push Sleek Nucleus to the dance floor, for all its heat and beats the most interesting elements transpire quietly. His one-of-a-kind aural ideals bring a unique aesthetic to the field. This album is full of infectious rhythms, kinetic throbbing and subliminal pulse, but the thoughtful listener will also find grainy tones, chirping modulations and fascinating timbres amidst Stokes' melodic sound designs. Never succumbing to formula, Stokes uses ideas and imagination as maps. He is the musician who speaks most directly to our contemporary condition, but has always been too far out there and unclassifiable to gain the following he deserves. Not one of his works are less than perfect.

first, you need a upc symbol and a physical CD on Amazon. To do that, you either need an Amazon Advantage account or go through CD Baby both of which cost you money and which will result in very few cd sales. Once your cd is on sale on Amazon you submit 2 songs to Pandora and then wait.....wait.... wait.... wait..

I find it incredibly interesting that the lead "virtual" radio station requires a physical CD to be even considered. I guess this is there way to weed out a million mp3s being sent to them daily.

I appreciate all the responses here. It's very interesting to learn how people search out music.s

Hi. Just a note that Sleek Nucleus arrived from the duplicator today. I wanted to let those interested know that this digipack is available from my site. For those of you interested in downloading it, it's also available on Itunes, Amazon and soon on Emusic. Thank you.

One thought I had was to start these accounts and then basically have a bio page and a link to your own website. That way you're at least "there" when it's in to be "there" and not much effort has been put into it.

John, I looked back at your blog offering on IM and it's really cool as it shoots out to other social sites. Very nice. I think RM is great so far.

In the last few weeks I've been feeling like It's getting harder and harder to stay up-to-date with all the things your "suppose" to do to do as a musician to promote your music. I have been looking at some companies that offer packages that allow you to easily maintain a web presence but also offer ways to disperse your news to other sites like facebook. One of these sites is called GUGUCHU.COM. Reverbnation is another. These sites allow you to create stores, presskits, mailing lists, rss news feeds that go out to your social network sites etc. etc. Some of them charge a monthly fee which I guess would be ok if it would make managing everything easier. However, on closer look most of them don't seem quite right for me. Perhaps they're better fit for new singer songwriter type musicians etc.

Has anyone here seen anything online that is like GUGUCHU but more appropriate for electronic musicians? Meaning, I don't want another social network site. I want something that can serve as the central brain for my music, news, cd sales and promotion.

This is what's became of me:

Tunecoresaulstokes.com htmlFacebook - finally broke down and made a page...Lastfm

Other sites people tell me I need to haveTwitterSoundcloudPing

Kind of getting ridiculous. ?? How are we as artists suppose to manage all this and still write music? Maybe I need to get an Kramerica Intern.

Stillstream.com's Spiral radio show is focusing on my past discography tonight but next week will be playing the entire Sleek Nucleus album. During next weeks show, I'll be hanging out in the chat room commenting on the music and answering questions. See below for details:

May 22, 2011 09:00 PM CST (UTC-6)Leading up to the world premiere of Saul Stokes' new album Sleek Nucleus on the 29th, tonight's Spiral will feature three more albums by Saul in their entirety: 2003's Radiate, 2006's Vast (plus a couple of special remixes!), and 2008's Villa Galaxia.

May 29, 2011 09:00 PM CST (UTC-6)If you're a fan of electronic music, you either know of Saul Stokes, or you need to. Combining delicate rhythms with lovely soundscaping, Saul creates lyrically beautiful music that sets a new standard ... and we are very pleased to bring you his newest album, Sleek Nucleus, live in its entirety, three days before its official release! Come join host Mike Metlay on Spiral as he plays Sleek Nucleus, and with a bit of luck, Saul himself will be in our chat room to visit with fans and newcomers alike. We hope you'll be there for this very special world premiere!